Carona Slams Abbott for Attacking the Justice Department

UPDATE 3: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed his response to the groups that objected to his request for the Supreme Court to step in and stay court-drawn interim redistricting maps.

The filing largely reiterates the points made by Abbott in his initial request for the emergency stay with the court.

Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave groups suing the state until last Thursday afternoon to file their objections to the state’s request to stay the court-drawn Texas House and Senate maps, and a Monday morning deadline to object to the state’s request for a stay of the interim congressional map.

A panel of three federal judges in San Antonio, who oversaw a key redistricting trial, was charged with authoring the maps because the Legislature’s proposals have not been “precleared,” which requires either a federal court in Washington, D.C., or the Justice Department to certify that the plans don’t violate the Voting Rights Act by reducing opportunity for minority representation.

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UPDATE 2: I just got off the phone with Sen. John Carona, who reiterated his displeasure with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for sending a letter to the Justice Department that he felt was unhelpful and over the top.

To Carona, the letter was an attempt by the attorney general to duck his responsibility by “shifting blame.”

Carona confirmed that there were many Republicans at the Capitol who are not happy with the way that Abbott has defended the state’s redistricting plans for the Texas House, Senate and congressional districts in federal court.

“The attorney general’s office appeared to be late in the game and they obviously made some critical tactical errors from a Republican perspective. Those things will, perhaps, work themselves out over time — the real issue here today and the reason for my posting, is just that I think, in the role of attorney general for this or any other state, he ought to be all about making unemotional and factual arguments.”

He continued: “I don’t see where finger pointing or accusations towards the Department of Justice improve our position, particularly for the Republican majority of voters that exist today. For us to further stir the pot with the Department of Justice in an emotional manner just weakens our position and ultimate outcome.”

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UPDATE: Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, took the Texas Attorney General to the wood shed, publicly blasting Greg Abbott on Texas Monthly’s BurkaBlog for attacking the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Attorney General Abbott would do the state and its Republican legislators a big favor by toning down the DOJ rhetoric and dealing effectively with the legal matters before him. No one is benefited (or fooled) at this stage by antagonizing those from whom the state’s Republican majority seek a fair and prompt ruling. This is not the time for the AG’s office to be seeking political cover.

Abbott claimed that the Justice Department was using “dilatory” tactics in an attempt to drag out the litigation over the state’s maps. In the letter, addressed to Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez, he wrote:

Because I assume your assurances were made in good faith, perhaps you are unaware of your Division’s repeated efforts to draw out the litigation—rather than expedite the process.

Perez fired off his own letter, which accused the state of misinterpreting key law and dragging its feet whenever possible during the legal process.

The Department of Justice is committed to resolving this redistricting case, and all of its many other pending redistricting cases and administrative submissions, as quickly and cooperatively as the circumstances permit. However, to be clear, the State of Texas bears the responsibility for any delays in the preclearance process – by waiting until the end of its legislative session and even into a special session before passing its redistricting plans, by further delay after passage in seeking preclearance, and by inexplicable litigation decisions that have slowed the resolution of this matter.